Spacesuit checks led Wednesday's schedule aboard the International Space Station as two astronauts prepared for spacewalks scheduled for Oct. 29 and Nov. 5, NASA reported on Oct. 21.

NASA flight engineer Anil Menon and CSA flight engineer Joshua Kutryk plan to install a pair of roll-out solar arrays on the station's truss structure, work NASA says will increase the outpost's power generation capability by up to 30 percent. On Wednesday the duo organized tools, inspected tethers and cleaned spacesuit helmets in the Quest airlock, then outfitted two suits with communications gear and medical monitoring hardware ahead of a suit fit verification planned for Thursday.

Menon also processed green algae and cultured tobacco cell samples for the Plant Cell Division study in the Kibo laboratory module, which examines growing crops on the lunar and Martian surface for future crews. Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina wore an acoustic sensor that recorded their rapid exhalation rate, with the recordings to be sent to Earth for analysis of how microgravity affects breathing.